Reyes a hometown hero; Saints women's hockey win in OT

Sunday, January 7, 2018 - 8:36 am

Justine Reyes scored two minutes and 25 seconds into overtime to lead the St. Lawrence University women's hockey team to a 3-2 win over Lindenwood in the second game of the College Hockey Classic at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, on Saturday afternoon.

The series was hosted by the Anaheim Lady Ducks, a girls' junior hockey club that produced four players between the two teams, including Reyes.

The Saints trailed Lindenwood, 2-1, late in the third period, but Skylar Podvey tied the game with an extra attacker with a shot from the point that bounced off several defenders before finding its way into the back of the net with just 2:39 remaining in regulation.

Reyes gave the Saints their first overtime win since February 27, 2016, taking a pass from fellow former Lady Duck Kayla Nielsen at the left side boards and skating around to the high slot where she fired a wrist shot into the left side of the net for her team-leading 12th goal of the season. Reyes also scored the game-winning goal in that game, an ECAC Hockey Quarterfinal victory over Princeton.

"Great comeback today," said St. Lawrence head coach Chris Wells '92. "The team really showed some resiliency and stayed with it. We haven't had a comeback win in a while so it feels good to finish off the trip like that. Fitting that the game winner was scored by a Lady Duck!"

The Saints jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 17 seconds into the game, as Amanda McClure's slap shot from the point beat Lindenwood goaltender Jolene deBruyn on the blocker side.

The Lions tied the game near the 13-minute mark of the first, as Brita Gillanders beat two St. Lawrence defenders before getting a shot towards the net that was blocked, but Carla Goodwin picked up the loose puck at the left side of the net and shot it through St. Lawrence goaltender Grace Harrison's pads.

Hannah Alt gave Lindenwood their first lead of the game, finishing a feed from Megan Wagner on the left side of the crease near the midway point of the third period.

St. Lawrence dominated the final 10 minutes of regulation and outshot the Lions 16-6 in the third period and overtime after Lindenwood had a 19-13 edge through the first two periods. Harrison made 23 saves for the victory, while deBruyn stopped 26 shots in the loss.

The 10th-ranked Saints improved to 10-7-3 on the year, while Lindenwood fell to 5-12-1.

St. Lawrence will host Union and Rensselaer next weekend at Appleton arena.